My Mother the Psychic

[là bạn điên]

I see no point in furthering this conversation. as any rational discussion is impossible and ALL of you seem to find it OK that someone calls my mother a sociopathic cunt and wants her to die a slow death.

[Kayenneh]

What did you honestly believe would happen when you posted this thread? That we would applaud your mother? That you'd be thought of as ingenious for wanting to rip off people, who probably are at a low in their lives? As for your whining of your report not being actionable, you should realize that Nora used a generalization. Funny that you can't see it, even though you prove that you are well capable of using generalizations yourself. And your mother might be the world's most wonderful person otherwise, but she is a cunt for ripping people off and you are an idiot for trying to defend her shoddy practice.

[NoraBrimstone]

I see no point in furthering this conversation. as any rational discussion is impossible and ALL of you seem to find it OK that someone calls my mother a sociopathic cunt and wants her to die a slow death.

I never singled your mother out with the death comment. If she's part of a group that deserves that, that's not my fault, it's hers.

Now I'm sorry if you thought you'd get a good reaction from a post telling us your mother is a horrible person, but you need to wake the fuck up.

[Cyberman]

I see no point in furthering this conversation. as any rational discussion is impossible and ALL of you seem to find it OK that someone calls my mother a sociopathic cunt and wants her to die a slow death.

Rational discussion requires all participating sides to be rational. While you are understandably protective of your mother, your attitude in this entire thread has been one of "it's ok, because others do it too" and then playing the martyr card. You remind me of the interview some years ago between Clive Anderson and The Bee Gees; they willingly proffered the information that the original name they chose for themselves was Les Tosseurs, then famously got upset and stormed out of the studio when Anderson joked "You've always been tosseurs to me". Were you so naïve as to the sort of response you'd get, particularly when you seeded the argument with 'scare quotes' and comments such as "my mother made income off the gullible which put food on the table" and "I was disappointed to find that she really does believe in it"? And if not, why would you even share such personal information if you knew the responses were going to upset you?

[Esquilax]

Here's the thing, though: these psychic mediums? Their business is predicated on the illusion of accuracy, right? A medium that doesn't get details correct about the dead person in question is just a regular person, after all. Now, it's an established fact that we all think this is fraudulent, which means, La Ban Dien, that your mother must be employing one of several tactics, like cold reading for one, in order to appear knowledgeable and spooky mystic enough to maintain the belief of her customers and keep accruing more, yes?

You say she really believes this stuff: that simply can't be true, if she's had to go out of her way to learn and utilize something fraudulent to achieve this "career." That'd be like saying a stage magician really believes he's performing magic, all the while knowing of the mechanisms he is familiar with and uses in his show.

[Cyberman]

If a person really believes that they have some kind of special gift, be it mediumship right down to palmistry and tealeaf reading, as long as they're not affecting others then they're entitled to that belief. As soon as they involve other people, whether or not they're willing to be gullible, then a line has been crossed. People can and do get hurt by this stuff - and not only the gullible ones.

[Ksa]

Whatever she's done she's your mother so you have to treat her with respect and not criticize what she's doing. Who says this? Not Ksa, but the Qur'an, in Surat Luqmān 31:15 which says:

"But if they endeavor to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them but accompany them in [this] world with appropriate kindness and follow the way of those who turn back to Me [in repentance]. Then to Me will be your return, and I will inform you about what you used to do."

You imagine, the Qur'an saying to show kindness towards unbelievers. You expect the Qur'an to say Ahhh Kafir! Murdock! Chop their heads off. But no! Treat them with kindness and respect, even-though you don't follow their teachings.

Why would the Qur'an ask you to treat them kindly? The answer is, because they're your parents. If you treat them badly, once they die, you will NEVER forgive yourself. Allah may forgive you but not YOU. You will regret that you did what you did, that you treated them poorly, so that's why such instruction is given, in order to benefit YOU, not the parents! The parents don't benefit anything if you are kind to them but don't follow. They would prefer you to call them names, and follow, then to be kind to them and not follow. But Allah says clearly that if you call them names, it benefits your parents because they can blame you and through blame they can impose their ideas upon you.

This verse strips parents whose beliefs differ from yours of all their power, of all authority and ability to control you. Them losing control over you may be painful, so if they get violent you can leave the room until they calm down, but never fall into the trap and play their game. I respect the opinions of my fellow forum members and my opinion is that you should treat your mother with respect so that you may regret nothing once she dies. So in this matter specifically I go with the Qur'an and I rarely make such an affirmation.

[LalalaTabby]

Alright, I've gotta say something. As someone who believed I had special powers--really, seriously believed--I told people I could read minds, make it rain, talk to animals....because I wanted to feel special. Deep down, I knew I was lying. I pretended to channel a spirit at a friends house, and the entire time I wanted to say, "You guys know I'm just fucking with you, right?" Turns out it was a prank, I was called out on my bullshit, but that's in the past now.

Now, your mother....she may have good intentions, she may wish to help others. She may honestly believe that she has those special gifts or what have you, but maybe, just maybe, deep down, she doubts herself, and she thinks, "Do I really have these gifts? Am I really reading their minds?" Or maybe she's so far gone (in her belief system) that she doesn't question it. Don't be angry with anyone here, là bạn điên, they are merely expressing their views on something they may or may not have any emotional dealings in. You're talking about your mother...of course you're going to be upset when they throw her into the "mediums and psychics should die slow painful deaths" pit. But it's nothing against her personally.

Just a suggestion...maybe try talking with your mother? Try to understand where she's coming from, try to understand why she believes what she does.

[Weewah]

The most successful sales people are those who actually believe in what they're selling. Even if the product is BS psychic services. I wish I was passionate about something like that and could make easy money, but nooo I have to think about stuff, lol.